LinkedIn Articles vs Your Blog: Where Should You Post?

Did you know that LinkedIn has a built in blog feature? Not just updates/posts (or micro-blogging as social media posts are sometimes known as), but full on blog functionality with the ability to format, add images in the header and within your text, hyperlinks, and a like/comment/share feature.

So should you start publishing on LinkedIn? What if you already have a blog somewhere else or your own website?

A few years ago LinkedIn introduced a new feature called ‘Pulse’ which was a built-in blogging feature. This allowed people who had no website or a difficult-to-update-website to self-publish in a way that was easy and nicely formatted. And one of the best features? When you hit ‘publish’ it would send a notification to all of your connections, which resulted in a much higher reach that just regular posts.

A lot of people, myself included, began to take advantage of this. But once I started publishing on LinkedIn, it brought up other questions like:

Should I post every blog post on LinkedIn or only certain ones?

Would it hurt my SEO to publish on both LinkedIn and my own website?

Should I post my blogs on LinkedIn in full or just a preview with a ‘read more’ link?

When LinkedIn revamped its website, it rebranded Pulse as LinkedIn Publishing and removed the notification feature, which was one of the main reasons for using it - unfortunately a lot of people were abusing this by posting short promotional messages and annoying their connections with tons of notifications. Without this feature, the above questions become even more important to think about. Let’s look at some of the factors that could play into your decision on whether to publish on LinkedIn or your own blog.

You Don’t Currently Have a Website or Blog

Maybe your website isn’t ready yet, or you have a website but no blog functionality. Maybe you are a professional who works under the umbrella of another company and don’t need your own website. Maybe you are an employee but have plans to become a consultant or freelancer and want to start establishing your authority now. If this is the case, LinkedIn Publishing could be a great way to start building your credibility.

You Already Have Your Own Blog

If the LinkedIn crowd or your connections are your ideal audience, then you want their eyes on your content. At this point you have a few choices:

Publish all of your blog posts in full on both your own blog and on LinkedIn

Publish all of your blog posts on LinkedIn with only a preview and a ‘read more’ link that goes back to your website

Publish only select blog posts on LinkedIn (either in full or with a ‘read more’ link)

The Pros and Cons of Publishing on LinkedIn

Pros

At the bottom of your article, your previous articles are highlighted, increasing the chances that people will read more than just the 1 article

There are several opportunities for people to follow you if they don’t already, increasing the chances that they’ll see your articles in the future

You could be increasing the reach of your business or brand

Cons

After the revamp, there is no dedicated place to just browse articles - they are posted to the newsfeed like any other link

You may lose website traffic if you get a lot of readers on LinkedIn and don’t incentivize them to visit your website

If you are publishing in both places, it’s more time spent

Duplicate Content Myth

Some people may be hesitant to publish both on LinkedIn and their own blog for fear of being penalized by Google. I used to believe in this myth until I did my research when I started determining what to do with LinkedIn blogging. The myth states that Google will penalize a website when the content is a duplicate of content on another website. This is sort of true, but it’s meant to stop scammers and spammers from 100% recreating a website and stealing traffic. The penalty is highly unlikely to affect your own website - read more about that right here.

The Verdict

What you end up doing really depends on WHY you are blogging in the first place. Are you looking just for brand awareness or expert authority? Then just blog on LinkedIn. Need to get that brand awareness going asap and don’t have time to wait for your website to be ready? Then blog on LinkedIn for now and re-evaluate when your website is ready. Need traffic for retargeting purposes? Then just stick with your own blog and share to LinkedIn.

I am a social media trainer and certified coach who specializes in helping women entrepreneurs uncover their social media confidence by equipping them with the skills, tools, and resources to be effective and productive on social media! I offer both group & 1:1 training and coaching, and am developing online courses for entrepreneurs to learn at their own pace. If you’d like to learn more about my style and get a ton of free resources, tips, and coaching you can become a student of Social Media School for Heartful Entrepreneurs at zero cost!